Gert Strydom
An Arundel Tomb
(after Philip Larkin)
Enthroned in their stone effigy
with dogs at their feet
hands clasped together forever
bounded by rock
their Latin names almost indistinct
and yet alone in their solitude
they watch each other
in a kind of sweet peace
as if having rest at last
and still they are dead
a long gone earl and his countess
of a different time and age.
The words almost undecipherable
but still having a own significance
of two people beloved, serene
looking at each other with sincerity
with him clasping his empty gauntlet
in his covered hand,
and his bare hand holding hers and just maybe
the epitaph should be:
love conquers all,
even death and war.
[Reference: An Arundel Tomb by Philip Larkin.]
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